


A Fine, Silver Thread

by SnakeFeathers



Category: Agent Carter (TV), Captain America - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Winter Soldier (Comics)
Genre: Agent Carter Spoilers, Black Widow Program, Gen, Protective Bucky Barnes, Protective Siblings, Pure Unfounded Speculation, Young Natasha, all relationships in here are platonic and sibling-like nothing gross, pretty much just speculation about episode 5 which airs this week, sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-02
Updated: 2015-02-02
Packaged: 2018-03-10 02:52:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3274013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SnakeFeathers/pseuds/SnakeFeathers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Black Widow program is an elite training regiment, and Natalia Romanov is one of the top new recruits. She's young, even for a Widow, and now that the base is under attack by an American force she needs to escape, to find someplace safe to wait it out. She doesn't find such a place, but she does find <i>someone</i>.</p><p>(pure, unfounded speculation about Agent Carter episode 5 which airs this Tuesday. Spoilers, obviously)</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Fine, Silver Thread

**Author's Note:**

> I saw the new commercial for Agent Carter episode 5 and I couldn't resist writing something about it because I'm just SO HYPE for Black Widow program in MCU that's close to comic canon. Here take my short little offering because I'm going to explode this Tuesday at 9/8c as soon as this episode airs. I wrote this in about thirty minutes so any errors are my own!

This place was never supposed to be found by the enemy. Not by the straggling remnants of the SSR, not by the wayward splintered cells of HYDRA cut loose by the loss of their leader, not by _anyone_. With the entirety of the Black Widow program housed in the small unassuming location, secrecy had been an even higher priority. They had to protect their investment, their recruits, their _future_.

When the first gunshots rang out and the first alarm began to blare as a small SSR force infiltrated their hidden base, the situation had devolved into panic. Her instructor had tried to usher them all into a safe place, to protect them, but she’d been caught unaware and a single shot from one of the American’s rifles had sent her crumpling to the floor in a pool of blood. Natalia and the rest of her peers had bolted, scattering through the decrepit base in hope of finding some safe harbor in this storm of hellfire and bullets.

The aging concrete building was a maze of dead-end hallways, with rusted, heavy steel doors that made too far much noise to safely open standing between her and sanctuary. She was clever and fast, one of the top students in the program even though she was one of the youngest recruits, and she wasn’t about to let herself be caught by the Americans, by her enemies.

One of the doors at the far end of the hallway was open the slightest bit, just enough for her to slip inside. She had never been in this wing of the base before and had no idea what was housed here but she couldn’t afford to be choosey as her life was in danger. Natalia slid inside and pushed the door shut behind her, the metallic _clang_ of it resonating down the hallway and making a pang of fear burst in her chest.

The room was unlit and pitch black, the only light filtering in through the thick grimy window imbedded in the reinforced door. She heard a female voice, thick with an English accept, call out and footsteps rapidly approach the door, Leviathan’s enemies having been right on her heels. Natalia pressed herself against the far wall, hoping the shadows would conceal her as she realized there were now male voices outside and the click of guns being reloaded.

Something shifted quietly off to her left, a dark figure sitting in the corner that she’d missed when she’d entered. Her stomach dropped as a flash of anxiety swept over her, but as seconds passed and she heard no voice calling for help and felt no bullet tearing through her she realized it had to be someone else from Leviathan. It was too dark to make out anything identifying, but the very faint reflective glint of silver metal was all she needed to recognize him.

“зима!” she had only interacted with the so-called Winter Soldier on a handful of occasions after he had been brought in from the fractured remains of HYDRA, a strange ghost made flesh, blood and metal from the darkest days of the war. He was quiet and soft-spoken, and sometimes watched the Widows training with an idle interest as his handlers discussed his own training. Just what he was or who he was was a mystery to her, but he was here and therefore was an ally, someone who could be trusted.

He wore a heavy black uniform and his hair was just long enough to get into his eyes, a muzzle-mask obscuring much of his face. She and the other Widows merely referred to him as зима, Winter, as he was just a silent and cold as the season of death. Winter tilted his head back the slightest bit as she went over to him, holding out his palms to show he was unarmed.

Natalia had spoken with him on a few occasions, usually in the medical wing, where they both frequently ended up. She from accidents during training, and Winter from who knew what. His voice was always so soft, with an accent she couldn’t place, something so starkly in contrast from the harsh barks of the other soldiers there that she had grown fond of hearing him speak. He always seemed so confused and lost, questioned her about the year and where he was, asked for a man named Steve, but no matter what answer she gave him it never seemed to clear his thoughts. It didn’t matter, he was gentle and kind in a way she wasn’t very familiar with, and she’d come to view him as a guardian of sorts.

The Winter Soldier seemed to strike fear into the hearts of the other soldiers on base, who would scatter like rats the moment he raised his voice. Natalia was never scared of him, nor were the other Widows; he was fiercely protective over them for a reason they didn’t know, going so far as to strike his handler for a comment he had made in poor taste. They weren’t allowed to see him after that, but with chaos having broken out in the base Natalia couldn’t have been happier to see him.

“Natalia, what’s happening?” he asked softly, head canting to the side the slightest bit as he reached over and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, “Are you hurt? Where are the rest of recruits?” those questions were just as soft as the first, his eyes following her as she sat next to him, hiding herself in his side as if he was a shield against the enemies lurking outside.

She wasn’t sure what to say. Winter spoke English, the language of her enemies, and she spoke only Russian. He seemed to have trouble understanding it some days, and as she couldn’t speak much more than a few broken words in his language she didn’t answer him. Any other superior asking something of her and receiving no answer would be met with harsh reprimand, but Winter was different. Instead he merely hummed softly, cold metal fingers smoothing down her hair before he moved to take her hand gently in his own. His grip was gentle, reassuring even through the unnatural cold of his metal hand encircling her own.

Winter made a motion with his flesh and bone hand, shifting just a bit so his legs laid flat and his back was pressed against the wall from where he had been curled up initially. It was a silent invitation and Natalia accepted instantly, climbing up and sitting in his lap, hands latching onto the rough fabric of his reinforced vest. She was strong and she was brave, but the sounds of death and bloodshed outside were something that resonated deep inside of her, reminded her of fire and the screams of a woman, reminded her of her youth.

“S’okay,” Winter soothed, metal arm wrapping around her back like a shield, holding her close and putting a barrier between her and the door, “s’okay.” Natalia burrowed into him, her head tucked under his neck and ear pressed to his chest, his heartbeat steady and reassuring like a lullaby. His right hand rubbed soothing circles along her spine, his eyes focused on the door as a beam of light blazed in from the filthy window on the door.

“ _I thought I saw one of ‘em run down here, Peg_.” A masculine voice shouted, muffled by the thick steel door and even thicker walls. Natalia felt Winter’s body stiffen, but if it was from fear or readiness to attack she wasn’t certain.

“ _Leave it be, Dugan. We can’t chase them all down when we have a more important mission_.” The female voice from earlier chimed in, and the reply the man made was too muffled for her to make out. Footsteps filtered off down the corridor until there was only silence outside but she didn’t move from her shelter, if anything she just pressed herself against him more. He made her feel safe, he was like the family she’d lost so early on in her youth, that she’d never really grown to know or love. He was the only person she could easily call friend, easily call _brother_.

The tenseness leaked from Winter’s body after a few minutes of perfect silence, his hand stilling on her back as he merely held her close to make her feel safe. She couldn’t really understand why most of the base was scared of him when he was so gentle, but then again she had seen him fight and he was a terrifying sight to behold, but never to her. He shifted the slightest bit and she felt his forehead rest on the top of her head, Winter folding himself over her to make her feel protected. It was a feeling she rarely experienced anymore.

“I won’t let anything hurt you, Natalia. I promise.”


End file.
